More about HearingHOW DOES SOUND OCCURSound is created when the air is subjected to a disturbance – both the vibrations from vocal cords and the pounding of a stamping machine create sound waves. The waves are transmitted through the air and captured by the eardrum, from which they move into the cochlea in the inner ear, which contains hair cells with tiny cilia. The cilia move when the sound waves reach them, and that movement is translated into nerve impulses, which are transmitted to the brain. The waves become sound.